Chroicocephalus maculipennis
Silhouette: Michael Scroggie · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The brown-hooded gull (Chroicocephalus maculipennis) is a species of gull, found in South America in Argentina, southeastern Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, and in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Falkland Islands. Its specific epithet, maculipennis, means 'spotted wings' (macula + penna). Like the other species of the genus Chroicocephalus, it was formerly included in a broad view of the genus Larus.
Adults in the breeding season have a dark brown head and throat with a white semicircle around the posterior of the eye, while the neck, chest and abdomen are white. In winter plumage, the brown hood is largely lost, retaining just a dark spot behind the eye and a dark smudge around the eye. The beak and legs are red, and the eye is dark brown. The outer primary flight feathers are white with black tips (the 'spots' of the scientific name) above and showing more extensively black from below, while the inner primaries and the secondaries and covert feathers are a silvery grey. There is no significant sexual dimorphism, but young birds are distinct, with the wings mottled pale brown, a black bar on the tip of the tail, paler orange-red legs and the bill orange-red with a dark tip... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Península Valdés | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Torres del Paine National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 3 | Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 4 | Tierra del Fuego National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 5 | Nahuel Huapi National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | |
| 2 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Rosario | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | Porto Alegre | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Santiago | 🇨🇱 Chile |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-hooded Gull sighting in Tierra del Fuego National Park on a given day, based on 25 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 59th most-seen of the 78 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-hooded Gull in Tierra del Fuego National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season. June has too few records to rate.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown-hooded Gull sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Brown-hooded Gull sightings, Tierra del Fuego National Park ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Península Valdés (Argentina, about 20%), Torres del Paine National Park (Chile, about 20%) and Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park (Chile, about 10%).
Same family: Laridae
The closest relatives of the Brown-hooded Gull that you can see in Tierra del Fuego National Park (family Laridae, Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers) are Dominican Gull (about 70%), South American Tern (about 30%) and Dolphin Gull (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown-hooded Gull is recorded against all the birds logged in Tierra del Fuego National Park (25 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
